Downton Abbey beats BBC's The Go-Between in ratings war - but returns with its lowest launch audience for start of the final series 

By Sharnaz Shahid for MailOnline

Published: 06:27 EST, 21 September 2015 | Updated: 07:38 EST, 21 September 2015

Downton Abbey has scored its worst ratings for an opening episode since it came to our screens five years ago.

According to The Guardian, the opening episode received an average 7.6 million viewers – almost one million fewer than last year’s premiere.

The sixth and final debut aired on Sunday at 9pm, but despite little competition from rival channels the series had a 36% share of the audience.

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Quite the dip: Downton Abbey has scored its worst ratings for an opening episode since it came to our screens five years ago

Quite the dip: Downton Abbey has scored its worst ratings for an opening episode since it came to our screens five years ago

The launch, however, managed to top BBC1’s latest adaptation, LP Hartley’s The Go-Between, which pulled in 2.6 million viewers.

Last year, the first episode was watched by 8.43 million viewers, while in 2013, an impressive 9.51 million viewers tuned in – Downton’s highest recorded premiere.

The drama charts the antics of the upstairs and downstairs occupants of an English country mansion and boasts a cast including Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville and Shirley MacLaine. 

A plunge: Sunday night's opening episode received an average 7.6 million viewers – almost one million fewer than last year’s premiere

A plunge: Sunday night's opening episode received an average 7.6 million viewers – almost one million fewer than last year’s premiere

Back for one last time: The sixth and final debut aired on Sunday at 9pm, but despite little competition from rival channels the series had a 36% share of the audience

Back for one last time: The sixth and final debut aired on Sunday at 9pm, but despite little competition from rival channels the series had a 36% share of the audience

Sunday night's opener caught up with Downton's inhabitants in 1925 with Robert, Earl of Grantham - who is played by Hugh Bonneville - could feel an era coming to an end.

The family were seen thinking seriously about how the estate can adapt to the changing times, especially when his friend Sir John Darnley is forced to sell his nearby estate of Mallerton. 

Despite the much-loved series coming to an end this year, executive producer Gareth Neame recently hinted that 'the majority' of the characters could return in the future.

Gareth insisted that the last episode of the show, which airs as part of a two-hour Christmas special, will not see a disaster which obliterates the cast but it will not be a happy-ever-after ending. 

No competition: The launch, however, managed to top BBC1’s latest adaptation, LP Hartley’s The Go-Between, which pulled in 2.6 million viewers

No competition: The launch, however, managed to top BBC1’s latest adaptation, LP Hartley’s The Go-Between, which pulled in 2.6 million viewers

Big fan base: Last year, the first episode was watched by 8.43 million viewers, while in 2013, an impressive 9.51 million viewers tuned in – Downton’s highest recorded premiere

Big fan base: Last year, the first episode was watched by 8.43 million viewers, while in 2013, an impressive 9.51 million viewers tuned in – Downton’s highest recorded premiere

The producer - who works alongside the show's creator Lord Julian Fellowes plans scripts and storylines - assured fans that although it is the end of the show the writers have ensured there is scope for the characters to return. 

He told The Daily Telegraph: 'There's a sense of finality... Hopefully there will be a mixture of sweetness and sorrow. They aren't all going to be wiped out by a meteorite.

'At the end, as we leave them to their own lives, yes, the door will be left open to come back to the majority of them in the future...

'We want to answer all the questions that people are asking... I don't know that [the characters] are all necessarily going to be OK because don't forget we've always said that this show is about the end of a way of life, the end of an era.'

Through the times: Sunday night's opener caught up with Downton's inhabitants in 1925

Through the times: Sunday night's opener caught up with Downton's inhabitants in 1925

'The door will be left open': Despite the much-loved series coming to an end this year, executive producer Gareth Neame recently hinted that 'the majority' of the characters could return in the future

'The door will be left open': Despite the much-loved series coming to an end this year, executive producer Gareth Neame recently hinted that 'the majority' of the characters could return in the future

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